I Can’t Even! …A Colleen Hoover YA Book Review

Published July 15, 2013 by Jenny

So apparently a beautiful thing happened while I’ve been trapped inside my work cave. And that beautiful thing is called Colleen Hoover.

Allow me to enlighten you: Ms. Hoover is my new-found joy and YA Book author obsession. With that said, I  also despise her.

Thanks to Book Rock Betty (one of my most favorite bloggers!!), I discovered a wonderful YA book titled, “Hopeless.” And of course, based on what Betty had to say, I  HAD to download it on my Kindle and read it.

YA Book review

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover via Goodreads

So, there’s this character in the book (besides the main character, Sky), and his name is Dean Holder. DEAN HOLDER. When it comes to describing him, there are no words…I can’t even.

He is absolutely one of THE BEST (if not the best) male characters I have ever read. He oozes perfection when it comes to the male species. He incites “the swoon” that we YA book readers crave.

When she wrote this book, Colleen Hoover achieved perfection with the words she used to ignite the fire that causes “the swoon.”

There is so much passion in this book–and I’m not referring to just physical passion. (After all, it is a YA book. There can’t be TOO much of that kind of passion.) I’m talking about the passion that is related to emotions and being committed to something or someone.

Also, Colleen Hoover has an incredible grasp of the teenage language. I say this for two reasons:

#1. I LOVE her voice…the language and dialogue is so real and so raw, and I can hear myself saying some the exact same things she had her characters say in the book, and I have actually said some of the exact same things Sky said in the book…both recently and 13 years ago…

#2. I have actually written some of the exact same things she had her characters say in “Hopeless.” (Hence why I also despise her!)

This is where my book review rant begins, so hang in there with me a moment 😉

When I started reading “Hopeless” I nearly lost my $hit.

In the book I am writing, there are settings and dialogue that are exactly the same as ones in “Hopeless.” I literally had several HOLY $HIT moments while I read the beginning of this book…and I knew exactly where it was going BECAUSE I HAD SOME OF THE EXACT SAME IDEAS without ever reading ANYTHING by Colleen Hoover.

Irritated doesn’t begin to explain how I felt. Not to mention also feeling torn to pieces because I LOVED what I was reading but HATED that if I continued where I wanted to go with my own book, many would probably think I plagiarized from Colleen Hoover! With that, I vented to my husband because I was so bothered by it.

Below is basically the gist of what my husband had to say regarding this predicament:

Book writing friends, has this ever happened to you? How did you get past it?

Did you just carry on?

So now I need to be enlightened: Book friends, do I  go and download “Loosing Hope” or is it better to leave it as is? My guess is that I’ll be downloading it, ASAP. 😉

AND if you have not read “Hopeless,” go download it now, put it on hold at the library, or go out and buy it in physical form. I guarantee YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK. As Dean Holder is passionate about his feelings and his beliefs, I am just as passionate in my belief that this book is amazing and YOU HAVE TO READ IT. So go read it, NOW!

Related articles

4 comments on “I Can’t Even! …A Colleen Hoover YA Book Review”

    • Oh my goodness, I CAN’T EVEN!! The book is so good! There are quite a few “passionate” scenes, if you know what I mean–and it gets a little explicit at times…so reader be-ware ;). But with that said, it is a very touching book!!!

      Reply ↓

    • Would LOVE to hear from YOU!!